Request for suggestion

[Bernard L Cohen <blc+@pitt.edu>]

	For the last 27 years, the principal focus of my life has been to
do research related to societal impacts of nuclear power, and since that
research has consistently led to my favoring that technology, to try to
convince the public to support it. In these endeavors, I have authored
four books plus chapters in several other books, I have published about
200 papers in various journals, and I have presented about 500 public
talks for various audiences. In these and in my research, I have addressed
every issue in the nuclear power debate.

	However, in my view there is one over-riding issue that is
preventing general public acceptance of nuclear power -- the public thinks
that nuclear power can cause cancer which kills people, and is therefore
too dangerous for expanded use. I firmly believe that the future of
nuclear power depends almost entirely on countering that misconception.

	My approach to countering it has been to point out that coal
burning, our principal source of electricity generation, is estimated to
kill 10,000 or more Americans every year with its air pollution, whereas
nuclear power is estimated to kill less than 10 (including accidents and
buried radioactive waste treated probabilistically, and accepting
linear-no threshold theory). There is extensive scientific documentation
supporting both of these estimates, 10,000 vs 10, and I believe they are
generally accepted in the scientific community and by governmental
agencies in U.S. and internationally. To me, this is a rational method for
countering the public's misconception.

	However, I have recently been heavily attacked on RADSAFE for
using this approach. In my responses to these attacks, I have asked for an
alternative approach to countering the public's misconception about the
dangers of nuclear power. However no suggestions that I can recognize as
such have been offered. I am therefore left sorely in need of an
alternative approach. Can someone please help me on this?


Bernard L. Cohen
Physics Dept.
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
 Tel: (412)624-9245
 Fax: (412)624-9163
 e-mail: blc@pitt.edu


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